Designer turns to testing his craft

By JULIE ASH

Mike Drummond will breathe a small sigh of relief this morning when Team New Zealand unveil their race yacht, NZL82.

The unveiling signals that Drummond's job as a designer is more or less complete and he can now concentrate on his job as navigator - a role he shares with syndicate head Tom Schnackenberg.

"It is another little weight off your shoulders," he said. "Today we have finished developing, so in terms of design it tapers off and I am here as navigator and not a designer."

Team New Zealand yesterday declared NZL82 as the boat they would race against Alinghi in the America's Cup match.

NZL82 was the second of Team New Zealand's boats to be built and was launched in October, two months after sister ship NZL81.

Drummond said there were differences between the black boats, both of which carry the "hula" hull - Team New Zealand's innovative hull appendage that adds length at the waterline.

"It wasn't hard to come to the decision, it just took a while," Drummond said. "The decision to use NZL82 didn't really gel until probably late December.

"We do have differences in performances between NZL81 and NZL82, light airs versus heavy airs and upwind versus downwind. NZL82 has got the best mixture of advantages."

Three years ago, Team New Zealand successfully defended the cup with NZL60, the second 2000-generation boat built.

In 1995, Team New Zealand began its challenge with NZL38, before racing NZL32 in the Louis Vuitton Cup final and cup race.

Drummond said several factors helped the team decide on NZL82.

"The main one is just how it performs. Which boat is the hardest to beat.

"Then factors came into play like the first unveiling and the Louis Vuitton Cup final and how we thought our boats matched up against theirs.

"But the final decision does revolve around where we think our weaknesses are against Alinghi."

Alinghi must use the same yacht they raced in the challenger series final, which means SUI64 will also be unveiled today. The question is whether Alinghi will sport a hull appendage.

"I don't think they will change very much," said Drummond. "The last time we saw the Alinghi boat it would have been optimised to race Oracle. Our boat is different to Oracle so they would have changed it to race against us.

"It is unlikely we will see radical changes, but I am sure there will be at least half a dozen small changes."

A no-change period is now in place.

As a navigator, Drummond must now turn his attention to what has been described as one of the most lethal afterguard combinations in world sailing.

"It is just another boat," he said of Alinghi.

"We have been preparing for a couple of years, switching people around, getting combinations and trying to get better and better. We think we are ready."

* Both unveilings are open to the public. Alinghi's unveiling is at 8am and Team New Zealand's follows at 8.45am. Both are being held at the syndicates' bases. The Alinghi base is open to the public as per usual, and the gates to Team New Zealand will open at 8.45am and close at 10.30am when the boat leaves the dock.

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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